loaf
1
[ lohf ]
/ loʊf /
noun, plural loaves [lohvz] /loʊvz/.
a portion of bread or cake baked in a mass, usually oblong with a rounded top.
a shaped or molded mass of food, as of sugar or chopped meat: a veal loaf.
British.
- the rounded head of a cabbage, lettuce, etc.
- Slang: Older Use. head or brains: Use your loaf.
Origin of loaf
1
before 950; Middle English
lo(o)f, Old English
hlāf loaf, bread; cognate with German
Laib, Old Norse
hleifr, Gothic
hlaifs
Words nearby loaf
loads,
loadspace,
loadstar,
loadstone,
loady,
loaf,
loaf bread,
loaf pan,
loaf sugar,
loafer,
loaiasis
Definition for loaf (2 of 2)
loaf
2
[ lohf ]
/ loʊf /
verb (used without object)
to idle away time: He figured the mall was as good a place as any for loafing.
to lounge or saunter lazily and idly: We loafed for hours along the water's edge.
verb (used with object)
to pass idly (usually followed by away): to loaf one's life away.
Origin of loaf
2
1825–35,
Americanism; back formation from
loafer
OTHER WORDS FROM loaf
un·loaf·ing, adjectiveExample sentences from the Web for loaf
British Dictionary definitions for loaf (1 of 2)
loaf
1
/ (ləʊf) /
noun plural loaves (ləʊvz)
a shaped mass of baked bread
any shaped or moulded mass of food, such as cooked meat
slang
the head; sense
use your loaf!
Word Origin for loaf
Old English
hlāf; related to Old High German
hleib bread, Old Norse
hleifr, Latin
libum cake
British Dictionary definitions for loaf (2 of 2)
loaf
2
/ (ləʊf) /
verb
(intr)
to loiter or lounge around in an idle way
(tr foll by away)
to spend (time) idly
he loafed away his life
Word Origin for loaf
C19: perhaps back formation from
loafer
Idioms and Phrases with loaf
loaf
see half a loaf is better than none.